


Supernatural, Extraterrestrial

by MermaidMayonnaise



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: ((x-files theme plays)), Cross-Posted on Tumblr, I personally headcanon him as something like Emily Windsnap, M/M, That could explain why his mother's gone, art in ch 1, mermaid!Jeremy, remember her?, story in ch 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-05 08:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17321252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MermaidMayonnaise/pseuds/MermaidMayonnaise
Summary: As they floated in that eternal moment, caught between space and time, the light reflecting around the pool, glimmering and catching on tiles and illuminating both of their faces. It had taken an ethereal aura-- the world was silent except for the slight gurgling of the water and the ringing in Michael’s ears.----------------------------Jeremy's a mermaid. What more could you want from the media.





	1. boy, you're an alien

**Author's Note:**

> If you hit ctrl+ a few times it'll be a bit clearer.  
> This should go w/o saying, but please don't steal the art. No retracing or anything like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make my day, and kudos make the world go round.
> 
> My tumblr is mermaidmayonnaise if you want to be asking how I'm doing, I'm doing just fine, I lied, I'm dying inside.


	2. your touch so foreign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am ashamed to say that I listened to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AowgJoCNhY) as I was writing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive. I posted this after 10PM the night before my AP Lit midterm, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow.

Michael entered the school pool. Everything was quiet, the only sounds were the slight gurgling sounds of the filter and the lapping the water against the walls. The air smelled of chlorine, and the smell permeated his nostrils and made him repress a cough because making a sound would disturb the silence.

He walked further into the room, looking closer at the details in an effort to distract himself. The space was huge, and the ceiling was high enough that he had to cran his head back to view the skylights at the top. Because it was nighttime, no light came through. 

The only brightness came from the lamps inside the pool itself, attached to the walls. The ever-changing patterns of water undulated on the side walls, tinting the entire room blue as they rippled.

Well, no more stalling. Michael walked up to the edge of the pool, flip-flops slapping the tile floor and splashing little drops of water in the air when he tread in a puddle. He took a deep breath and looked into the pool.

Unsurprisingly, he found Jeremy lying there, submerged near the bottom in about fifteen feet of water. He was lying on his back but still floating, his eyes closed. His brown hair, stripped of its unruly curls, drifted softly around his face. Besides the obvious details that he could breathe underwater and somehow be unbothered by the depth and pressure at that level, Jeremy had acquired a tail.

It was like something out of a dream. Jeremy’s upper body was normal and unchanged, the same skinny torso and collarbones. But as Michael’s eyes traced down his body, his waist melted away into scales that shimmered green and blue and purple as the water moved around him. 

Strangely, Jeremy also had three separate sets of fins. One was his tail, a crumpled looking fan that had thin, membrane-like material stretched across spines. There also a set of spines covered in that membrane that ran down his back. The second set started just below his backside and ended somewhere where his knees would have been.

If Michael had to guess, he would posit that, similar to a fish, those fins helped Jeremy keep his stability in the water and aid with hydrodynamic drag.

Michael didn’t know what else to do, so, as he was out of options, he took a rock out of his hoodie pocket and tossed it in the pool. It hit the water with a soft  _ plunk  _ and promptly sank to the bottom. 

The effect on Jeremy was similar to a gunshot. His body jerked as he snapped awake and rolled onto his stomach, and in the next instant completely froze, his eyes darting frantically around the pool. It must have been some primitive instinct, as Michael remembered reading something about how staying still actually concealed one some than moving to a better hidden position.

“Jeremy,” Michael called out to him, hoping that his best friend could hear him in the water. Jeremy gave no response other than staying perfectly, absolutely still, other than his tail very subtly waving to keep his balance.

Seeing how this was going nowhere, and also not wanting to frighten Jeremy more than absolutely necessary, Michael took off his shoes and sat on the edge of the pool, concrete digging into his backside and water lapping at his knees.

Michael saw Jeremy sense the ripples through his Spidey-senses and tilt his head to look up and see him. After that, he swam through the water like a shot, hovering maybe a foot below the water and grinning at Michael, his eyes shining.

“Michael? Michael!” Jeremy said other things after that, but the only reason Michael could understand the first world was that of his necessity to be able to read lips. The only sounds that issued from Jeremy’s mouth was a series of muffled gurgles and screeches. 

Was… Jeremy speaking a different language? That would make sense, theoretically. Merpeople couldn’t speak by pushing sound waves through the air, so maybe the most efficient wavelengths for sound were those that composed their language. That was to say that there were other merpeople, but by logical reasoning, Michael thought it probable. Jeremy couldn’t be the only one of his kind, after all.

Jeremy, after talking and gesticulating for maybe twenty seconds with no response, suddenly realized that Michael either couldn’t hear him or understand him. His face visibly fell, and he sunk down a few feet in the water in disappointment.

Michael suddenly had a thought. In  _ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, _ one of the challenges was to figure out a golden egg that, when opened, only screeched above water. When Harry got a clue from Cedric to listen to the egg in the bath, Harry realized that he had to put his head into the water and listen to the egg, he could hear what the voice was saying. 

But that was fiction, and this was real life, however strange Michael’s life may have seemed at the moment. But maybe, just maybe, JK Rowling knew more about the supernatural world than she let on.

And so, feeling incredibly stupid, Michael put on his goggles, knelt at the edge of the water, lay down on his stomach, and stuck his head in the water, but not before taking a deep breath and saying, “Jeremy, can you hear me?” above water.

“Yes, but I know you can’t understand me for some reason,” Jeremy’s voice came to him, crystal clear after Michael’s head was submerged. “I think that speaking in the water triggers some linguistic instinct and I can only speak in this other language. Of course, you don’t know what I’m saying, so--”

“No, I hear you,” Michael said, but only a series of bubbles issued from his mouth. Jesus Christ, talk about a communication barrier.

“--So it doesn’t really matter. Michael, I’m scared. I don’t know what’s happening to me, and it’s not like there a Wikihow page to look up what to do if you suddenly grow a fucking  _ tail--”  _

Then Michael stuck his hands in the water and signed to him,  _ Jeremy, I can understand you. _

Jeremy ceased talking and waving his hands. “What? You  _ can?” _

_ Yes, please don’t freak out. Take a few deep breaths. _

“I’m underwater,” Jeremy said dryly. “I don’t think I can.” But he did make a noticeable effort to try to calm himself down.

Michael surfaced to gasp a deep breath before going underwater and signing.  _ How did this happen? _

Jeremy tapped his chin, thinking. “I don’t know, exactly. It’s a bit of a blur. I remember waking up in the middle of the night. I felt dizzy and had a bit of trouble breathing. I grabbed my inhaler, but that only made me feel worse, so I went to get a drink of water.

“As I drank it, I felt something like a… I think the best way to describe it was a wave of need. I  _ needed  _ to be near water, surrounded by water, so I grabbed my dad’s keys and drove his car here. Actually getting into the school was easy.”

_ You picked the lock to the school? _

“Yeah,” Jeremy shrugged. “That’s what a Wikihow article  _ is  _ useful for. So I got into this room, and by that point, I started blacking out from air deprivation. I threw off my clothes--” he pointed in the general direction of ‘up and yonder’ “--and fell into the pool. From then on, I blacked out but not before I… changed.”

Michael’s lungs were started to hurt from the lack of breath.  _ How exactly did that happen? Actually, hold on.  _ He got out of the water and opened his backpack, taking out his snorkel. It looked like his tendency to overpack for every possible situation was finally paying off. Brushing it off, he put it in his mouth, lay back on his stomach, and put his head down.

Jeremy looked at him in amusement. “Nice. That’s a real fashion statement.”

_ Okay,  _ Michael signed at him, first all of,  _ fuck off, you’re an actual mermaid. Second of all, unless you want me to choke and die and you’ll be stuck in the school pool until a group of freshman discover you first period tomorrow, you better shut up. _

That was a bit harsh. Jeremy stiffened momentarily.

_ Sorry. That was uncalled for. _

Jeremy looked away, lips pressed tightly together.

He tried to thaw the ice between them.  _ Can you go above water when you're a…  _ Michael didn't know the ASL for ‘mermaid,’ he signed ‘water man.’

“I don't know,” Jeremy said, and he looked frightened. “Before when I transitioned, it felt like I couldn't breathe outside of the water. I  _ really _ hope it's not the same the other way around.”

_ Maybe you have two sets of lungs? _

“My torso doesn't seem any different.”

_ And the rest of you does? _

“Okay, that's fair,” Jeremy grumbled, running his hands along the scales of his tail. “Let's give it a shot.” he took a deep breath, and with a slight flick of his tail, rose to the top of the water. He tread at the surface, lifted his head up, tried to take a breath, and exploded into a fit of coughing. Still hacking up a lung, Jeremy hastily put his head back underwater.

_ Okay, so that was an obvious failure,  _ Michael signed, trying to think of a solution. Then, when Jeremy continued gasping for the equivalent of breath underwater, signed,  _ Dude, are you okay? _

If Jeremy hadn't been underwater, his eyes probably would have been streaming. As it was, they were red.

“I'll be fine,” he coughed. “That felt just like I tried to inhale water.”

Michael's heart fell.  _ So you're a literal fish out of water.  _

“Yeah. And speaking of fish out of water...” Jeremy had started swimming in circles, lapping the perimeter. Michael watched him gradually build up speed, as Jeremy streaked past him in a blur of scales and bubbles.

Michael continued to watch Jeremy in awe. As far as he knew, Jeremy had never been in any of body of water, courtesy of his father, so Jeremy possessed no swimming ability whatsoever. Except apparently he now did.

Eventually, after five minutes or so, Jeremy slowed down, swimming back to Michael and lazily treading a few feet away from him. 

“Wow.” Jeremy was slightly out of breath.

Michael couldn't resist.  _ Apparently your twink body carries over to your supernatural one as well.  _ It went to show what he chose to remember that he was able to sign ‘twink.’

Jeremy pouted at him. “Pool water is strangely uncomfortable to be in, though.”

_ What do you mean? _

Jeremy squinted, taking a deep breath. “It feels like the equivalent of breathing when there's smoke in the air. Uncomfortable, but I'll be fine if I'm only exposed for a short amount of time. Probably.”

_ How long have you been underwater, though? _

“I was unconscious for a few hours, I think.” Jeremy flicked his tail and accidentally sent himself head over heels in the water. “It was 11:15 PM when I went downstairs to get a drink. What time is it now?”

_ Last time I checked, it was 2:30 AM.  _ Michael huffed a laugh at Jeremy's helpless flailing around.

“I'll live. And stop laughing at me! This a whole new appendage, and I've never used it before. Give me some slack!”

_ It seems like you already have plenty of slack.  _ Michael grinned around the snorkel, then stopped at Jeremy's expression.

Jeremy looked like he was choking. He grasped at his throat, and his helpless sounds were visible through the water. Michael stared at him, not having a clue what to do. What the fuck was happening?

Suddenly, Jeremy rose up to the surface, coughing, and Michael hastily raised his head and took the snorkel out of his mouth to watch. And then Jeremy’s head and upper body broke the surface, and he gasped huge, ragged breaths.

“You…” Michael said, stunned. “You can breathe above water.” He looked at Jeremy’s lower body, where there was still a tail. “You couldn’t do that before.”

Still coughing, Jeremy swam to Michael and hefted himself on his elbows, dragging his upper body on the concrete siding of the edge of the pool. His tail stayed in the water and it looked too heavy for Jeremy to be able to lift it out through brute force. Tears streamed from his eyes as he tried to recover from his second coughing fit of the day.

“You must have a second set of lungs,” Michael realized, “and you were able to access them somehow. Maybe you can switch using them. That’d be more prudent for evolution, after all; you’d be like an amphibian.”

“I’m--” Jeremy’s voice was raspy as he tried to use his second (regular?) set of lungs. “I’m happy that you’re busy analyzing the evolutionary benefits while I’m trying not to die.”

Michael jumped. “Oh! Oh, sorry. I thought you were fine.”

“I am fine,” Jeremy said haughtily, “but I’d appreciate if you didn’t assume that everything’s ‘cool’ and ‘rad’ all of the time. This is serious.”

“This situation is serious?” Michael said, disbelieving. “You  _ choking  _ is serious? This is your second time not being able to breathe! I think the overarching situation of you being a fucking  _ mermaid  _ is much more serious than the fact that you’re a biological marvel.”

Jeremy smashed his tail against the water, sending a wave of water crashing around them both. “So you’d rather I flop around and suffocate like those fish on the pier?”

“Yes!” Michael shouted angrily, then put his head in his hands. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry. It’s just… this whole goddamn situation. Yesterday, my biggest concern was about my chemistry test tomorrow. Today, it’s about whether PEETA, the FBI, or the SPCA will find you first.”

Jeremy looked at his hands, picking at the nails, all the fight drained out of him. He sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry I got your clothes all wet.”

“It’s just my signature hoodie and my pajamas,” Michael said, “I’m wearing swim trunks underneath, so I think it’s safe to say that they’re doing their job.”

“You really did come prepared,” Jeremy smirked, and then squealed when Michael splashed water on him.

Jeremy lunged for him, but Michael scrambled to his feet and backed away. “Nuh-uh. If you’re going to pull me into the pool, at least let me strip. I’d like to preserve my vintage Sith themed pajama pants.”

“They're not vintage if you got them at the mall last year.” Jeremy lunged for him, but he was stuck at the edge if the pool. “Damn it.”

Michael stifled a laugh as he pulled off his hoodie and pants. It seemed like having a tail had drawbacks. Speaking of which, “Jer, how’d you access your second set of lungs?”

With a dramatic sigh, Jeremy pushed off his elbows and slid back into the water. “I don’t know. It was kinda like switching from breathing to your mouth from your nose-- it just happened, but I think I can control it now that I know what to feel for.”

Jeremy dove back underwater, sinking to the bottom and looking expectantly at Michael.

“What are you looking at?” Michael said, then realized. “No. No way am I going into that freezing water.”

Unable to talk, Jeremy pouted at him.

“It's two in the morning. It's either going to take a miracle or a nationwide fire to get me in there.” As Michael talked, he walked to the edge of the pool. “No way. Only one of the two of us has a dolphin fursona, and it's not me.”

Jeremy frowned at him and suddenly shot up to the surface, a stream of bubbles trailing behind him, grabbed Michael’s arm, and pulled him into the pool.

“Jeremy--!” Michael yelled, and promptly swallowed a significant amount of chlorinated water as he hit the water with an impressive impact.

Jeremy was holding his wrist and Michael tumbled down through the freezing water. His skin and lungs both burned and water pressed against his eyes, but Michael forced them open. Through blurry vision, he could make out Jeremy’s form gracefully floating in front of him, and Michael felt the pressure on his wrist lessen.

They met each other’s gaze, or at least Michael squinted in Jeremy’s general direction. Time froze as he took in the scene.

Jeremy was floating right side up, arms spread out to either side as he tread water. They were facing each other, two countenances turned toward the other as they beheld the opposite glory. The pool lights reflected through Jeremy’s hair, waving gently around his face like seagrass, turning them shades as his normal tawny brown and reflecting glimmers of blue. Jeremy’s mouth was slightly open, caught between a half-laugh and a gazing, thinly veiled adoration.

Michael felt his own hair drift in around his head, wisps catching on his ears and nose. His waterlogged clothes dragged him downward, pulling with a hefty gravity.

As they floated in that eternal moment, caught between space and time, the light reflecting around the pool, glimmering and catching on tiles and illuminating both of their faces. It had taken an ethereal aura-- the world was silent except for the slight gurgling of the water and the ringing in Michael’s ears.

Michael finally felt his feet touch the floor as he sank to the bottom, and that brought him back to the present, lurched out of his phantasmal reality of swirling colors. He kicked up off the rough concrete as he gasped as he broke through the surface, heaving a deep breath that rasped in his throat as air rushed back into his burning lungs.

Jeremy joined him at the surface, hovering slightly below the waterline, and for a minute the only sound was Michael’s heavy breathing. Eyes glimmered green below the surface as Jeremy regarded him silently. When Michael had finally recovered, he met Jeremy’s eyes as he took a deep breath and submerged himself. 

Michael took deep strokes and methodically kicked his legs until he settled weightlessly at the bottom, and Jeremy followed gracefully beside him. When they situated themselves, Michael gestured to Jeremy, as if to say,  _ What next? _

Jeremy hesitated for a second, then took a stroke that pushed him close to Michael. Too close. If Michael could breathe, his breath would have caught in his throat.

Jeremy took Michael’s face in his hands, cradling it gently. Michael’s lips parted unconsciously as Jeremy’s eyelashes fluttered shut and he leaned over to kiss Michael, gently, so gently as if he was afraid of frightening him.

Michael stared at him through the water for a second, stunned, felt his heartbeat thudding wildly against pressure in his ears. When his brain caught up and he surged forward to close the remaining distance between the two of them. Closing his eyes, he kissed Jeremy back.

He kissed Jeremy like he was chasing the last beams of sunlight in the horizon as they faded over the ocean. He kissed Jeremy like he was a drowning man, desperately gasping for air. He kissed Jeremy like he never wanted to let him go.

Jeremy’s lips parted, and he gently breathed into Michael’s mouth. Unbidden, Michael inhaled, and instead of water entering his lungs he drew in clean, breathable air, and the burn in his lungs faded.

Michael kissed him again, winding his arms around Jeremy’s shoulders and tangling his fingers in his hair. Jeremy somehow managed to groan in his mouth, biting Michael’s bottom lip gently and licking it to soothe the sting. In return, Michael licked into his mouth, and Jeremy melted under his touch.

As the two kissed underwater in the dark natatorium, the only lighting a few bulbs submerged in the pool, the water shimmered and undulated patterns on the tiles around them. It pressed in from all sides, but the pressure was welcome, comforting. 

Jeremy was here with him. Jeremy was here, and Michael was here with him. He was here for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote 2.5k words, abandoned it, then finished it today. You can probably tell where I picked it up.
> 
> My tumblr is mermaidmayonnaise if you want to discuss why Kanye West doesn't aesthetically belong in Katy Perry's music.
> 
> Comments make my day, and kudos make the world go round.


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